Initially opposed to the concession of the Donka national hospital to the Canadian group Netsen, for fear of job cuts, the workers at the hospital center resolved to accept the junta’s decision. However, concerns remain, despite assurances from the Minister of Health on July 18. On August 2, during a press briefing in Donka, the union section of the hospital brandished its grievances in a memorandum to the Department of Health.
Another time, another proposal: the former President Alpha Condé, initiator of the renovation project of the Donka hospital, planned to entrust its management to the Cubans, as soon as the work was completed. The management of the hospital is entrusted to Netsen Group, for a period of five years. A source of concern for doctors, nurses, laboratory workers, among others.
“The workers at Donka National Hospital highly appreciate the government’s efforts to renovate and equip the centre. This will help improve the living and working conditions of workers. However, “the concession agreement and its content are of concern to us”. Among other things, we fear the treatment reserved for employees, the guarantee of their employment, the distribution of bonuses, the absence of union representation on the Board of Directors. The syndicate also seeks a right of scrutiny from the General Management of the hospital on the Administration and on the revenue generated by the hospital centre. It also requires the training of workers, the regularization of the situation of trainees, the fee schedule and the expertise of the concessionaire.
“In addition to the 28,580,000 US that the government must pay to the concessionaire for the 5 years, he (Netsen Group) will fully manage the revenues generated without a right of inspection from the Guinean party. For these reasons, we recommend the opening of a dialogue for the best interests of the workers of Donka and the Nation”, asks Djoran Kéïta, the Secretary General of the Donka Hospital Workers’ Union.
In a decree of July 4, President Mamadi Doumbouya erected the Donka National Hospital into a public administrative establishment, endowed with legal personality, enjoying autonomy and management. It enjoys for the concession period of five years a special status during which the public hospital will be managed in the form of concession and delegated management.
Article 2 of the same decree indicates that the hospital is placed under the supervision of the Ministry of Health and Public Hygiene. At the hierarchical level, it is equivalent to that of a central administration and its mission is to implement government policy in the area of specialized care. “As such, he is responsible in particular for providing care for patients referred from other health facilities in the country and abroad, for providing care for the most serious cases of illness so as to reduce evacuations outside the country, to provide diagnostics and specialized and superspecialized medical care. Also, to evaluate and improve technologies and methods of intervention for the benefit of other hospitals in the country, to provide emergency care to patients, extremely specialized consultations and their possible accommodation, to provide initial and continuous training for health personnel, promote wealth in health and the university hospital center of Conakry”, specified the decree.
Yaya Doumbouya
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